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Robert Back's father first sued Benefis in 2004, claimed discrimination, defamation

Robert "Buck" Back provides testimony, Tuesday, during the trial to determine liability for the head injury his son, Robert Back, Jr., suffered in the fall of 2014 while playing as a member of the Belt High School football team.(Photo: TRIBUNE PHOTO/RION SANDERS)Buy Photo

The case of Robert Back's family versus Benefis Health System, one of the largest health care providers in the state, isn't the first case leveled against the hospital.

Nor is it the first case leveled against the hospital by Robert Back's father.

In 2004, Robert "Buck" Back sued the hospital for discrimination, retaliation and defamation after Benefis temporarily terminated his employment in the wake of false allegations by his ex-wife.

Through their attorney for the current case against Benefis, the Back family declined to comment for this story.

According to filings in Cascade County District Court, Buck said he was sent home Nov. 19, 2002, because of criminal allegations made against him by his ex-wife. He was told to return the next day for a meeting with hospital officials.

At that meeting, Buck claimed officials "demanded" explanations about the allegations, and said they did not want to deal with his ex-wife's harassment at the workplace. Additionally, hospital staff told him "the allegations of his ex-wife would not have been believed if they had been made against a woman employee," Buck wrote in the complaint.

After the meeting, Buck was put on leave without pay until the allegations were resolved, the complaint states.

About a week later, Buck said he received a letter stating he would not be eligible for any benefits because he had been terminated from the position.

Buck's employment at the hospital was reinstated after police cleared him of the allegations, according to the civil complaint.

Buck reportedly filed a grievance against the hospital alleging Benefis committed human rights violations. The Montana Human Rights Commission granted Buck permission to file a complaint in district court about a year after the incident.

In his complaint, Buck claimed hospital officials had believed the allegations and terminated his employment because he was a man, and they "did not want to deal with harassment of him by his ex-wife."

He also claimed retaliation, saying after he was cleared of the allegations, Benefis retaliated against him by placing him in a disciplinary proceeding designed to deter him from obtaining an attorney and seeking damages.

He also claimed hospital staff defamed him when one supervisor told others he was a "security risk," among other things that she knew to be untrue.

Buck in his complaint sought back pay, actual pay from lost wages, compensation, attorney fees and costs among other things.

Benefis and the supervisor initially sought to have a judge dismiss the case, but their requests were denied. The supervisor denied making defamatory statements in the defending party's answer to the complaint, while the hospital denied causing any damages.

In 2007, Buck, Benefis and a representative for the supervisor settled the claims and agreed to have the case dismissed. Then-District Court Judge Thomas McKittrick dismissed the case on Jan. 18, 2007. In his order, he wrote that each party would pay their own costs.

Buck now works as a boiler inspector for the state, according to testimony from the current trial in which he, his wife and son are suing Benefis, claiming the hospital is liable for his son's 2014 football injury that left him a quadriplegic.